TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2015//
TI  - Clinical and economic burden of visual impairment in an aging society of South Korea
JO  - Asia-Pacific journal of public health
A1  - Park, Hae-Young
A1  - Ryu, Hyunnam
A1  - Kang, Hye-Young
A1  - Lee, Hankil
A1  - Kwon, Jin-Won
SP  - 631
EP  - 642
VL  - 27
IS  - 6
N2  - Whereas the incidence of visual impairment and blindness (VI&B) is decreasing, the total number of VI&B is increasing due to the growth of elderly population. To compare the clinical and economic outcomes of patients with and without VI&B (ie, cases and controls) in Korea, a case-control study was performed using the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service-National Patients Sample data. Cases had higher prevalence for all of the Charlson Comorbidity Index components, depression, fracture, and injury as well as eye diseases compared to age- and sex-matched controls. In regression after adjustment of concomitant diseases, cases had 2.7 times (95% confidence interval = 2.3-3.2) higher medical expenditure than controls. The results of this study confirm that patients with VI&B have significantly higher direct medical expenditures and concomitant diseases than those without VI&B and highlight the need for a public health strategy to reduce potentially avoidable costs attributed to VI&B.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1010-5395
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1010539515588944
ID  - ref1
ER  -